truelove

thanks Josh,

i called midtown and linda said that Benishek & Duffy were the best body shop south of chicago and she wouldn't trust her to car to anyone else. she was even reluctant to give me any other recommendations because she knew noone else would do the job they can do. so anyway, i went there this morning (just got back) and told them i needed 2 estimates for the insurance company and they said they could do that so that's good. also, when i got there, there were all sorts of really nice cars sitting around (MBs, Porsches, BMWs, etc.) ready to be worked on, so that made me feel more comfortable.

the damage assement was $910, $410 of that is just from replacing that little plastic piece with the little window in it (steve tried to buff it out while i was there with no success). it's just got little scuffs on it, but oh well, might as well replace it.

my coupey should be looking good as new in a couple weeks. i'm very relieved. now hopefully, i won't do this again for a long time. but knowing my luck, the auto body shop will get to know me very well.

slcvr6

Why not consider an AMG lip spoiler to cover the rear edge that is scuffed? It may not require replacement of the glass/tail end of the hatch then...

Or, maybe I can't really see the extensiveness of the scuffing/damage.

Good luck!

truelove

UPDATE: i got word from my insurance agent that this little doozy will cost me an extra $70/month ($2500 over 3 years) on my insurance bill so i said "to hell with you". well actually, i didn't say that, cause my insurance agent is a sweet young lady, but i did say forget it, i'll pay for it myself.

i just told the auto body shop to forget about replacing the plastic piece at the back (i should be able to buff out the marred up part on the plastic, there really isn't that much damage on it) so that saves me $410 so in the end i'll 'only' be paying $500. i'm taking it in next tuesday, and i should have it by thursday or friday. from now on, i'll try to be very very very careful whenever i do anything in or around my car. or course, i wasn't exactly trying to do this act of idiocy. there goes another chunk of my tax return.

MarkL

Not exactly related -- what happened to your avatar? I thought the old one was cool, and the coloration was more natural.... Just me!! OK, I'll get used to it :p

truelove

how's this avatar Mark? this white tiger is alot neater looking than the one i stuck on yesterday.

tifosiv122

The joke with maaco is they will just spray nad overspray...if your leaning on the car, your getting painted over too...

Erik

MarkL

Nice-- I like that it takes up the whole frame...

MB-BOB

truelove, I'm just now reading this in detail, so I'm late to your party (or is it a wake?) Anyway, just try to look on the bright side. Now that you've baptised the car yourself, you won't have any future run-ins. (Sometimes I've been tempted to take a ball-peen hammer to a new car just to get the anticipation over. Ha!)

Regarding MarkL's post earlier, don't let them paint beyond the Hatch panel lines. The break between the panels at the panel lines will be enough to hide any differences... Your car is also so new that there shouldn't be any noticeable diff in color shade, anyway.

Finally, don't beat yourself up over this. I did something similar over the weekend... backed my wife's brand new (400 miles) Honda SUV into a railing and broke the rear taillight assembly. Doh! $160 part and my labor and all will be restored, but I'm trying not to get masochistic over it, and you shouldn't either...

ldangeli

I should be your brother. I too can't leave one car unscathed. Except mine, was backing into a PARKED snowplow. I know, I know.. Caught the Drivers side rear, wheel-well. 2g's worth o damge. Going in in two weeks to get it fixed. I'll see if I can't get pics and post em. Geesh, "If it wasn't for bad luck, I'd have no luck at all" -me

Dr. Plastic

Damn Do you have Geico or something? I have had small things like this taken care of on my Audi (my son was backing out and scraped the wheel lip with the bricks at the door of the garage) and Allstate never raised my rates!

ldangeli

Now that made me laugh, but how true is that! I don't know about the rest of you CLK owners, but is it me or are there some serious blind spots on this car!

truelove

the insurance company isn't the only thing that effects things like this though. it all depends on past driving records, age, sex, blah blah blah, what type of accident it was, etc.

truelove

UPDATE: well, my car went in for surgery yesterday and i got a call this morning. it seems that back plastic (i guess it's plastic) piece with the little window in it is glued in and not just bolted or whatever. the repair shop tells me that they may not be able to get it out in any shape to get it back in and look right so they may have to replace the entire piece anyway (i didn't want them to do this originally since the piece is $410). and if they don't get it outta there, they can't guarantee the repair. i just told them to try to get it outta there and back in, but if they can't, just replace it. i told him to do the best repair job that he can do. keep in mind this is a really really good repair shop so they'll know what to do.

this is turning out to be a big mess. i really wish i hadn't done this to my car.

CitronC230K_03

that sux to hear truelove. did it scratch the paint on the spoiler or the clear window. i assume the clear window from what i just read in your last post. is it cracked or what. im not really clear on the damage. let us know how recovery goes after surgery and whether they just replaced the window or the entire spoiler.

truelove

take a look at the pics above in this thread to see the damage. the major damage is the painted part right aft of the rear window, but the plastic part with the little window in it got scuffed up a little too (on the top).

i originally just wanted them to leave the plastic part alone (since it's not that bad) but i guess it's a stubborn B!tch to get on and off without damaging it so they may have to replace it. it'll all look brand new by this weekend i'm sure. i'll take pics of the final result.

in the meantime, i hate driving my wife's car. for all you taller people out there, don't buy an Oldsmobile Alero. They have NO legroom.

CitronC230K_03

yeah my god daughters parents have one and im 6'3 and they have no room. same with my sisters buick regal!

CitronC230K_03

oh now i see. that looks like it hurt. im sure the body shoppe will make it look like new its just having to go thru that in the 1st place. i know what you mean. i had a similar incident with my vw.